Decisions, decisions

A factor in their decisions this time will be the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which could be the final time NHL players will be involved. Both players have stated that they do have some interest in playing for their country, which could increase the odds of both returning for 2009-10.

Niedermayer admitted that the lure of winning a gold medal for Canada is strong with the Olympics in British Columbia, his native province.

"Obviously it'd be a big thrill, a big honor to be part of that," he said. "To be competing for your country in your home province. I've said that before. I don't think that's really too complicated.
"Really, my decision has to be based on looking at the whole NHL season. I don't think you can make a decision based on an Olympic thing for two weeks."

Selanne, who's given thought to playing for Finland after earning a silver medal at Torino in 2006, sounded like a player that intends to honor the final year of his contract, saying that he still enjoys going to the rink and that "there's so many good things with what's going on here."

As far as Niedermayer, Selanne said he will wait to see what his teammate does before making a commitment.

"Obviously everybody wants to see Scotty back," he said. "But that's his decision if he wants to play. I don't even believe he's going to go anywhere else even though he's a free agent. I think he wants to play on a team that has a chance to win. That's the bottom line.

"I don't think he's ready for a rebuilding situation."

Niedermayer and Selanne both said they intend to give Anaheim GM Bob Murray their final word prior to the Entry Draft in late June.

-- Eric Stephens

ANAHEIM --Bob Murray wasn't a happy camper when the final seconds ticked off on the Anaheim Ducks' season after Dan Cleary's late third-period goal in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals allowed the Detroit Red Wings to escape an intense back-and-forth battle of the last two Stanley Cup champions.

Once he was able to cool off and take an objective look at his team's Jekyll-and-Hyde season, the Ducks' general manager came to a conclusion that should send a signal to the rest of the conference and, for that matter, the League.

No matter what big decisions loom for the 54-year-old executive or some of his stars this summer, the Ducks intend to challenge for another Cup and remain a fixture in the postseason.

"This group, since we've been here, has hard three decent runs in the playoffs in four years," Murray said. "I see no reason not to try to continue that. I think we can do it. That's what I'm going to work on."

A series of trades around the deadline by Murray in his first big moves since taking over for the departed Brian Burke in November not only shook an aging, underachieving team out of its slumber but made it younger and quashed any notion that the Ducks would be in a full-fledged rebuilding mode for next season.

Whether the Ducks enter next season as a potential playoff team or a bonafide Stanley Cup contender again rests with what captain Scott Niedermayer decides to do over the next few weeks.

"Will he or won't he play?" will be the question that again surrounds the organization as Niedermayer, who had a serious flirtation with retirement after the Ducks' 2007 Cup triumph, intends to make a decision on whether he'll come back for a 17th season or hang the skates up for good.

"There's not really much to figure out," Niedermayer said. "I've been through it before. I kind of know where I stand. I know why I'd like to keep playing. I know maybe why I'd like to take a step back. Ultimately, I'll just have to make a decision on which way to go."

Murray didn't hold back when he expressed how the former Norris Trophy winner's call will affect the moves he has in mind this summer along with Anaheim's immediate future.

Uncertain summer for Giguere

Jean-Sebastien Giguere enters the offseason in a position he doesn't want to be in but one he's familiar with.

Giguere was supplanted by Jonas Hiller as the Anaheim Ducks' No. 1 goalie and watched Hiller star in his first NHL postseason after winning two championships in his native Switzerland. It's quite possible that the job may be Hiller's to lose when training camp opens in September.

The question will be whether Giguere will be there to fight for a job that's been mostly his for the past seven seasons. Over the years, he's fought off other challenges from Martin Gerber and Ilya Bryzgalov.

"Right now, I just kind of want to step away from the game and go as far as possible away from the game of hockey right now and think about something else," he said. "Maybe spend quality time with my family and things like that and re-energize and refocus for next year."

Giguere had a rough 2008-09 season, going 19-18-6 with a 3.10 goals-against average. The easy-going Montreal native, who turned 32 on Saturday, also lost his father, Claude, to cancer in December.

With Hiller signed for next season at an affordable $1.3 million, Anaheim may look to deal Giguere, though that may be tough since the veteran is owed $13 million over the next two seasons and has a no-trade clause in the contract extension he signed after the Ducks won the Cup in 2007.

Giguere made clear that he's not ready to be a backup but he also made clear that he wants to stay in Anaheim, the team that gave him his big break.

"When I signed my contract two years ago, I got a no-move clause because I wanted to stay here," he said. "Right now, this is where we're at. For right now, this is the best place for me."

-- Eric Stephens

"We're not that far away," he said. "We can have another run again. It all depends on Scotty. He's irreplaceable. He's everything to this group. I'm going to have to see where he goes before I decide where I go."

Expect that decision to come prior to the Entry Draft in June. Murray wants an answer because whether Niedermayer returns figures to affect how much the executive has to further change a roster he started reshaping ahead of and on the March 4 trade deadline.

The Ducks did relieve themselves of some major cap problems they faced at the start of 2008-09, but they would be hard-pressed to retain a formidable defense corps if Niedermayer does come back. Whitney is in the fold for four more seasons, but Chris Pronger has a year and $6.25 million left on his deal and Francois Beauchemin, an unrestricted free agent as of July 1, is expect to get a major pay raise even though he missed most of the regular season because of a torn ACL in his left knee.

There is also James Wisniewski, a deadline-day acquisition whose gritty play and surprising offensive contributions quickly made him a fan favorite. Wisniewski is a restricted free agent and Murray said he intends to match any offer sheet the defenseman might receive.

Despite dealing seven potential unrestricted free agents, Murray may be faced with letting Beauchemin walk if they can't come to an agreement and, if Niedermayer comes back, may need to move Pronger to free up cap room. Speculation has been that the big rearguard could most likely be moved at the time of the draft, held June 26-27 in Montreal.

"I don't think you can keep them all," Murray said, when asked about holding his blue line together.

Beauchemin said he hasn't talked about a contract since he got injured in December but wants to see what happens "in the next couple of weeks."

"I've had four great seasons here," he said. "We like the city, we like the team. They have decisions to make and we'll live with it. We'll see what they want to do and then we'll go from there."

As he did when his name came up often in trade speculation at the deadline, Pronger said he won't fret much about his future until something actually happens.

"Who knows what comes up in the next two or three months," he said. "There's a lot of time between now and next training camp. I'm sure there'll be a lot of questions from you guys in September and maybe even sooner. We'll see how things play out and go from there."

Niedermayer's decision could also impact 38-year-old Teemu Selanne. Selanne is signed for next season at $2 million with a cap hit of $2.625 million, but wants to see what his teammate does, along with Murray, before he makes a commitment.

"I want to see what's going on here," Selanne said. "Talking with (Murray), he's got a pretty good picture of what's going to happen. He's very positive about it. That's always a good sign."

The Ducks would also like to bring back character veterans Todd Marchant and Rob Niedermayer, though Murray clearly indicated that they would have to take pay cuts in order to stay in the fold. Marchant and Niedermayer sounded open to the idea.

"We had a group of guys that played their heart out. It just didn't work out quite right. A bounce here and a bounce there and we could have been in Chicago, but we're not. Now we start working on next year."-- Anaheim GM Bob Murray

"I understand where I am at my career," Marchant said. "I know what it is that I bring to the table and bring to this organization and this city. I'm not in the same situation I was six years ago when I was unrestricted. I understand that. They understand that. Hopefully we can get it done quickly."

Said Rob Niedermayer: "My first priority would definitely be to come back here."

After a late-season tear that culminated in a stunning upset of top-seeded and Presidents' Trophy-winning San Jose in the first round and a near ousting of the defending champion Red Wings, the Ducks believe that they're back on a championship path.

"We had a group of guys that played their heart out," Murray said. "It just didn't work out quite right. A bounce here and a bounce there and we could have been in Chicago, but we're not. Now we start working on next year."